


the depth of that privilege

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: first to fight [14]
Category: The Code (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Issues, Gen, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 11:24:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21898537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: Deidre Murphy drops by one morning in early March. The instant Maya sees her standing on Rhys' stoop, elegant and cold all at once, it feels like her world's going to fall apart around her. Miraculously, though, the visit somehow makes things better than ever before. Perhaps it's time to let go of her pessimistic ways.
Relationships: Maya Dobbins & Harper Li, Maya Dobbins/Original Male Character(s)
Series: first to fight [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1471817
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	the depth of that privilege

**Author's Note:**

> A child born to another woman calls me her mother. The magnitude of that tragedy and the depth of that privilege are not lost on me. - (sort of) Jody Landers

Maya muttered a string of curses under her breath as the tip of her finger lightly brushed against the hot cast-iron pan in front of her. _Should’ve stuck with pancakes_, she thought to herself as she ran cold water over it. _Never been injured cooking those before. _

She didn’t particularly know why she’d turned to omelets on this particular morning; possibly to prove to Maddie that there were, in fact, breakfast foods in the world that didn’t require a dousing of syrup to consume. If they weren’t careful, the child might very soon become more sugar than she was girl.

“Good morn…” Rhys trailed off, eyeing the scene before him. “Everything okay in here?” he questioned, the concern in his tone balanced by the unhidden amusement accompanying it.

“Yeah,” Maya assured him, patting her hand dry with a kitchen towel. “Yeah, it’s great. I just, uh, sort of figured people were kind of exaggerating when they talked about how hot cast-iron pans got, that’s all.”

“Okay,” Rhys replied slowly. “Well, they weren’t. How’s, uh, how’s the hand? You need some ice, or…”

“Sting’s pretty much gone now,” she informed him. “Don’t think it’s anything worse than first-degree, if it’s that. I am, however, putting you in charge of all current and future omelet-making endeavors. Come on in here; do your thing.”

“Gladly.” He headed for the stove, pressing a brief kiss to her flushed cheek as he made his way past. “Maddie was still in the process of getting up when I left her; hopefully she’s at least dressed by now.”

“Well, if she’s not down here soon, she won’t have time to eat before we leave. Her teacher wants her there half an hour earlier to make sure everyone’s on the bus before it leaves for the zoo.” Maya tilted her head to the side. “How many children do you think they’ve accidently lost for that to be some sort of official rule they have to follow?”

Rhys’s eyes widened slightly at the implication. “I’m hoping none.”

“That optimism,” Maya muttered fondly. “Never change, Donovan.”

“Daddy, did you sign my permission slip?” Maddie questioned, practically skipping down the steps. She was dressed for the day and already wearing her backpack, looking just about as excited as she ever had.

_Ah, to be five again, _Maya mused amusedly. She wasn’t entirely sure she’d _ever_ been that cheerful.

“I did indeed, and Miss Maya packed your lunch.” Rhys expertly flipped the omelet in the pan. “Do you want orange juice with your breakfast, kiddo?”

“Yes, please,” Maddie answered politely, climbing into her chair at the table. “I’m going to get to see the zebras, right?” she asked Maya hopefully.

“I’m sure they’ll come out just for you, honey,” Maya replied, smiling genuinely as she filled a small cup with juice and placed it on the table in front of the little girl. “Don’t drink it all at once,” she cautioned, taking the seat next to her.

“Okay, Miss Maya,” Maddie agreed, sipping the beverage slowly as she’d been instructed to.

Rhys added buttered toast to the plate with Maddie’s omelet, then slid the plate over to his daughter. “We’re riding in together, right?” he checked with Maya, heading back to the stove and starting their eggs.

“We are,” Maya confirmed. “Mads, smaller bites,” she urged. The child was in such a hurry, she was a little scared she’d either choke on the eggs or burn her esophagus while eating them. “Have you heard anything back on the Meyers case?”

Rhys shook his head in response. The doorbell rang before he could elaborate, though, which was rather unusual, especially prior to eight o’clock in the morning. “You aren’t expecting anyone, are you?”

“Nobody who knows me would visit this early,” Maya pointed out amusedly. “I’m only one cup of coffee into this day. Not all our friends are as brave as you and Maddie, my dear.”

“Very true,” Rhys agreed solemnly, grinning at her when she rolled her eyes in response to his words.

“Let’s hope it’s just a salesperson or something, because kiddo here has zebras she needs to see,” Maya called over her shoulder, heading for the door and flashing a polite smile as she pulled it open.

The expression slipped immediately from her face when she caught sight of the woman standing on the other side of it.

Deirdre Murphy was a beautiful woman, at least externally. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a neat chignon; her makeup was impeccable. She was dressed from head to toe in designer brands. She looked exactly like a doting Stepford wife. It was hard to believe, at least at first glance, that she was Rhys’s ex-wife, the woman who’d put both him and their young daughter through hell time and again.

There was exactly one picture of Deidre in the entirety of the Donovan household. It’d been taken at Maddie’s first birthday party. Rhys was holding their sleeping daughter while Deidre peered over his shoulder, smiling gently at the sight. According to Rhys, he’d chosen it because it was one of the very few photographs he’d been able to find where his child’s mother was smiling in her presence. That’d told Maya just about all she’d needed to know about the woman who’d once shared his last name.

All this knowledge made it very difficult for Maya to be polite. She came from a family of politicians, though, so she was able to hold it all in and paste that smile back on her face. She didn’t particularly care how fake it looked anymore.

“Hello,” she greeted, eyeing the woman curiously. “Can I help you, or…”

Deidre smiled tightly, coldly, her eyes devoid of any emotion other than anger. “Yes. I need to speak to my ex-husband. Is he in?”

“He and Maddie are actually eating breakfast at the moment…” Maya began. “Maddie’s got a field trip today, so we’re just about to head out the door. If you want, though, I can tell him you stopped by, ask him to call you back later.”

The other woman shook her head. “I’d really rather get this settled now,” she said insistently. “Wouldn’t it be possible for you to take Maddie to school?”

“I…” Maya trailed off, unsure of what to say next. Yes, it absolutely was possible for her to do that. She’d done it countless other times in the past, mostly when Rhys got in too late at night to feel totally certain about climbing behind the wheel of a vehicle occupied by his only child. “I guess I could, yes.”

“Good.” Deidre’s smile somehow managed to be both sweet and completely ungenuine at the same time. “May I come in now?”

“Of course.” Maya stepped aside hesitantly, allowing the other woman to enter before closing the door behind them. “Rhys, Deidre is here,” she announced loudly, doing her best to give him as much warning as she possibly could before he was accosted by his ex.

Rhys appeared a moment later, his gaze cooler than she’d ever seen it. Maddie was a few steps behind him. The little girl froze at the sight of her mother, obviously unsure what to do. “Hey, kiddo, Miss Maya will take you to school this morning, all right? And then you’re going to tell us both all about the animals when you get home.”

“Okay, Daddy,” Maddie agreed uneasily, still staring at her mother. “Hi, Mommy,” she added quietly.

The smile Deidre offered her daughter was even colder than the one offered to Maya. “Hello, Madelyn.”

“Okay, kiddo,” Maya said quickly, her heart breaking at the sight of Maddie’s tearful gaze and trembling lower lip, “let’s leave Mommy and Daddy to talk, all right? We’ve got to get going. You have to go meet so many animals, right?” She stood on her tiptoes to press a quick kiss to Rhys’s cheek as she made her way past, then took his daughter by the hand, guiding her out of the house and away from whatever it was that was about to go down between her parents.

“Call me when you get there,” Rhys requested, glancing over his shoulder to flash her the most genuine smile he could muster up in that moment.

“I will,” she promised, forcing a smile of her own before fleeing from the room with Maddie in tow.

Everything had been good for so long. She figured it was about time things started to collapse all around them.

-o-

“Okay, you’re being a _little _overdramatic,” Harper protested, pointing a forkful of pasta at Maya across the table. “You took off before actually finding out if anything was falling apart. You have no idea what’s happened between them since you left.”

“I’m in love with him,” Maya said hopelessly, shaking her head as she reached for her glass of water. “I love Maddie. In my experience, admitting to the universe you love something is the quickest way to lose it. Maybe that’s what happened here. Maybe I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.”

“What would be the alternative? Never again telling someone you cared about them?” Harper scoffed when Maya simply shook her head in response. “Yeah, I’m sure _that’d_ make your relationships easy to maintain.”

“Look, I understand you’re happy, and in love, and I’m happy for you, Harper, I genuinely am.” Maya inhaled deeply. “But not everyone finds that. The last time I thought I had, I got married, and, well…” She smiled humorlessly. “Everyone knows how that turned out.”

“If your theory is that Donovan’s going back to the ex-wife who drove drunk with his _baby_ in the car, you are even more pessimistic than I originally thought.”

“That’s not…” Maya trailed off defeatedly. “I’m not sure what I think, really.”

“Well, then, I’m not the one you need to be having this conversation with,” Harper pointed out, firmness coexisting with sympathy in her tone. “You need to be having it with Donovan.”

“I know,” Maya muttered, exhaling heavily. “I do.”

“Look. When you chose to let Rhys into your life, you chose to be a part of that little girl’s,” Harper continued. “You don’t get to bail without a word anymore. They both deserve better from you.”

“Yeah,” Maya agreed quietly. “I’m just not quite sure how to stick around when things get bad, though. I never have before.”

“Well,” Harper replied, reaching for her glass of tea, “you need to figure it out quick, because you, my friend, are pretty much a mom now. Moms don’t run. Not the kind Maddie deserves, at least.”

“No,” Maya acquiesced, smiling slightly for the first time since the conversation began. “No, they don’t.”

-o-

“We saw the zebras and the elephants and the giraffes,” Maddie informed her excitedly.

Maya smiled as she glanced in her rearview mirror. It was much later in the afternoon, and she’d just stopped by the school to pick Maddie up and drive her back home. “Oh, really? And what about those tigers your friend was telling you about? They come out to say hello, too?”

“No,” Maddie said disappointedly. “But my teacher said our new teachers will probably take us again next year, and we might get to see them then.”

“Maybe we could convince your dad to go this summer, too,” Maya suggested, fighting back laughter at the way the kid’s face lit up at the very suggestion. “Just an idea.”

“You think he’d want to?” Maddie asked hopefully.

“Where do you think you get your love of zebras from, kid? That’s genetic right there.” Maya pulled into the Donovans’ driveway, silencing the engine and then reaching for the door handle. “Okay. Ready to go in?”

“Do you think Mom’s still here?” Maddie questioned, far more concerned by the possibility than any kid should be. “She yelled at my daddy a lot when we lived together before. I don’t like it when she yells at him. She’s not very nice to him. Or to me,” the girl tacked on as an afterthought.

“Well, there’s no other car here,” Maya pointed out, glancing around the yard. “So she’s probably left by now.”

“Good.” Maddie hesitated. “I lied to my friend today,” she admitted a moment later.

“You did?” Maya asked casually, not wanting to make the girl feel uncomfortable despite her concern over what she could’ve possibly felt the need to lie to a five-year-old kid about. “What’d you lie about?”

“She asked where my mommy was,” Maddie explained quietly. “And I told her _you_ were my mommy.”

“Oh,” Maya murmured, unsure of what to say. “Well, if you want to call me that, it’s okay,” she settled on after a few moments’ thought. “It’s fine with me if you see me as your mom, kiddo.”

“Really?”

The hope in the little girl’s voice nearly broke Maya’s heart. “Of course, kiddo.”

“Okay. Can I go tell my daddy about the zoo?”

Maya had to bite back a chuckle at the child’s quick change in subject. Children really were the most insanely resilient people on the planet. “Sure. Maybe we’ll see if we can talk him into ordering a few pizzas to celebrate your eventful day, huh?”

“Okay!” Maddie agreed excitedly, unbuckling her seatbelt. Maya climbed from the vehicle, then circled around to open the little girl’s door and help her out of the SUV. She dashed inside so quickly that Maya didn’t even try to catch up. She simply trailed after her, laughing under her breath as she went.

Rhys was sitting on the sofa when she walked in, listening attentively as his daughter told him all about her day at the zoo. He smiled up at Maya when she walked into the room, though he waited for Maddie to head off to her room before bringing up the events of the day.

“So, Deidre’s wanting to sign away her rights,” he informed her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders when she curled up on the cushion next to him. He absently pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “She’s – I don’t know. She doesn’t want to be involved. Not that she was before, but not having rights makes it a lot harder for us to ever sue her for child support, so…” He trailed off, scoffing. “Like that is something I’d ever do.”

“Well,” Maya sighed, resting her head on his shoulder, “it never has seemed like she really knows you.”

“No,” he agreed defeatedly. “she doesn’t.” He exhaled slowly. “So. Maddie told me she’s started calling you her mom.”

“Oh.” Maya tilted her head back to meet his gaze. “We talked about it. I should have checked with you, I know…”

“No,” he denied. “You shouldn’t have. I’m not – I’m not surprised she’s started seeing you that way. You have done more for her in the past few months than her mother did in years. Deidre didn’t wait until the divorce to check out on her kid. She did it the day Maddie was born.” He shook his head. “I love you,” he said finally. “And I know you love me, and you love her, and that’s enough for me. As long as you’re okay with it, she can call you whatever she wants.”

“Oh,” Maya murmured laughingly, “that’ll come back to bite us both when she reaches her teen years.”

“I said if _you’re_ okay with it,” he pointed out amusedly. “Not if _she_ is.”

“Important clarification.”

“So.” Rhys cleared his throat. “You’re already planning on being around for her teen years?”

“I’m planning on being around as long as you’ll let me,” she replied sincerely.

“Well.” He smirked gently. “Then you might just have to stick around forever.”

“You know,” Maya sighed, a smile on her face, “I think I just might be okay with that.”

His eyes softened as his smirk became the fondest smile she’d ever seen. “I really do love you.”

“Believe me,” Maya breathed, snuggling a bit closer, “I know the feeling.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you despise Deidre - I don't blame you. I sort of do, too, and I wrote her into existence. She's far from the best mother on the planet. If you recall the time Rhys mentioned his ex-wife getting a DUI - yeah, that was with Maddie in the car. I've never explicitly stated it until Harper mentioned it here, but it was planned that way from the very beginning. That sort of gives an insight into her morals and values. It also explains the relationship between both ex-spouses and mother and daughter, I'm hoping. 
> 
> Also, Deidre's name means brokenhearted. I chose it because that's how she leaves everyone who ever bothers to care about her.


End file.
